1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a disk drive suspension, comprising an actuator element of, for example, lead zirconate titanate (PZT), and a manufacturing method therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
A hard disk drive (HDD) is used in an information processing apparatus, such as a personal computer. The HDD comprises a magnetic disk rotatable about a spindle, a carriage turnable about a pivot, etc. The carriage, which comprises an actuator arm, is configured to be turned transversely relative to tracks about the pivot by a positioning motor, such as a voice coil motor.
A suspension is mounted on the actuator arm. The suspension comprises a load beam and flexure superposed thereon. A slider, which constitutes a magnetic head, is mounted on a gimbal portion formed near the distal end of the flexure. The slider is provided with elements (transducers) for accessing data, that is, for reading or writing data.
In order to overcome the increase in the recording density of disks, the magnetic head should be more precisely positioned relative to the recording surface of each disk. To attain this, as disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publications Nos. 2001-307442 (Patent Document 1) and 2002-50140 (Patent Document 2), for example, dual-stage actuator (DSA) suspensions have been developed that combine a positioning motor (voice coil motor) and actuator element made of a piezoelectric material, such as lead zirconate titanate (PZT).
The distal end of the suspension can be moved by an infinitesimal distance in a sway direction (or transversely relative to tracks) by applying a voltage to and thereby deforming the actuator element. This actuator element is disposed on an actuator mounting section at a part of the suspension.
An opening is formed in a plate member constituting a part of the actuator mounting section, and the actuator element is accommodated in the opening. As disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2002-184140 (Patent Document 3), for example, the plate member with the opening comprises a stationary part and movable part. One end of the actuator element is secured to the stationary part of the plate member with adhesive, and the other end to the movable part with adhesive.
An example of the plate member comprises a first plate and second plate. These first and second plates are superposed thicknesswise and secured to each other by laser welding. The adhesive is applied in an uncured state to the inner surface of the opening of the plate member. The adhesive is cured after the actuator element is disposed in the opening. In the case of the plate member comprising the first and second plates, however, the adhesive may sometimes infiltrate into a mating surface between the first and second plates by capillary action. The adhesive interposed between the first and second plates may possibly influence the rigidity of the actuator mounting section, thereby adversely affecting the characteristics of the actuator mounting section.